PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 1,330 Shares of Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. reduced its stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,548 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 1,330 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 43,570 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $822,000 after buying an additional 18,751 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 144,427 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,725,000 after buying an additional 5,800 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 83,132 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,569,000 after buying an additional 11,122 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Provident Financial Services by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,065 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $699,000 after buying an additional 4,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PFS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.70.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

PFS stock opened at $18.13 on Tuesday. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a 12 month low of $14.34 and a 12 month high of $22.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.40. The stock has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24 and a beta of 0.89.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 16.97% and a return on equity of 8.80%. The firm had revenue of $214.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $213.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.11) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 54.24%.

Insider Activity at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, Chairman Christopher P. Martin sold 55,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total value of $950,252.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 601,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,259,923.50. The trade was a 8.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Profile

Provident Financial Services, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Provident Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. Its deposit products include savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, money market deposit, and certificate of deposit accounts, as well as IRA products.